Mercedes-Benz might locally assemble S500 in India

Owing to the tremendous response to its recently launched S-Class, Mercedes Benz might locally assemble the S500 in India. The initial lot of the all-new S-Class was bought in one variant, the S500, with only 125 cars. All examples were sold in no time.

Mercedes will sell the S350 diesel by June this year which will be assembled locally at the company’s plant in Chakan, Maharashtra. The locally assembled the S500 will share the assembly line with its diesel sibling and might be cheaper than the car made in Germany. However, rumours are that the S500 will continue to be imported in a higher spec variant and sold alongside the locally assembled car. The locally assembled S500 might miss-out on few features to get a lucrative price tag.

The German luxury car maker realised they were conservative with the numbers and believe they could have bought in 300 cars and could have sold it easily. The S350 diesel will be made available from June onwards and is supposed to be the entry level S-Class in India. Mercedes’s initial lot of cars had 123 in white shade and a couple of them in black.

If this happens, it would be a good move by the company to locally assemble the S500, but, only if the pricing is appropriate. If the difference isn’t too much in comparison to the CBU, 'feature rich' imported car will find more favours with the customer base in India.